Basketball points

[Turbine]

I think many here are miscategorizing what chemistry is. Playing with chemistry can be anything from generating bonds between the players and you always play better and harder for guys you like. It can be having a fell for what each player can do and you make decisions on the court quicker because you know what to expect from each player. Ultimately, it can mean you playing better as a group and that leads to consistency. I'd say we were pretty consistent this year. I've never seen a Cajun bench as intense during games as I saw this year and it was noticeable if you are watching in person. That includes the managers, bench players, coaches, support staff standing and talking and when we were on defense you could hear them from the benches. That is chemistry and its not just a player issue. It doesn't guarantee you wins but I think it helps in tough games and I'd say this team had chemistry and I'd say it was beneficial this year.

Agree

[zephyr]

Just to touch on the at large chances. For any SBC program to get an at large, OOC scheduling has to improve and the results have to be good.

But, an at large berth earns a NCAA unit. Just like winning a game in the tournament. So, now you know why the mediocre programs in High Major leagues get the at large spots. Follow the money.

Correct. Having the conference improved with the new arrivals will help but it won't turn the dial in regards to getting at large bids. UNC will miss the tournament with a SOS in the 20's and Net ranking somewhere in the 40's and they are a blue blood in a power conference. The SBC had 4 teams with NET rankings under 100 which has never happened but all were in the 70"s and up. Our OOC SOS would absolutely have to get much better along with adding some neutral site stuff so we're not always playing on someone's court an Oh, we would have to start winning some of those games also.

[zephyr]

I'm not the biggest basketball fan in the world, but there are three things that this team did this year that I didn't see as much in the past

1 they shot free throws and made those points, it drives me nuts to see teams that aren't good free throw shooters since to me that shows a team that doesn't pay attention to the small details

2 they rebounded and had multiples around the board which enabled them to have rebound points

and 3 they were very good from the 3 point range which would open up the inside game when needed.

I would argue one thing and that's FT's. We were near the bottom in the league in that regard and our best player struggled from the FT line and that may be a big issue moving forward in the tournament if we get in a close game.

[IberiaCajun]

One more point. The hunger and energy of the young assistants contributed to success. They also had come from winning programs. Donovan Kates came from Alabama and Casey Perrin from
Texas Tech/Texas. 2nd year coach Derrick Zimmerman became lead assistant and was up to task. Moving Neil Hardin to Director of Scouting was a great move as he excels in that aspect. Team gave him a great birthday present last night as he turns 50 today. Our guys were rarely not prepared properly this season. People who have ties to coaching world know assistants do most of work and I just wanted to give shout out to those guys.

Happy Birthday Neil.

[Million$Mullet]

Thanks cajunsmike for the original post.

The rest of this thread is stupid. The team had a great regular season. And last night won the conference tournament, which is the ONLY way for a Sun Belt Conference team to make the NCAA tournament in the current landscape of college basketball.

The money spent in PR would be nowhere near what it would cost to bring in a team that, if (and a BIG if) the Cajuns had beaten, wouldn’t have made any difference in making the NCAA tournament without winning last night.

Is it so difficult to enjoy the moment and celebrate this team accomplishing what they’ve accomplished?? My God.

Ha!! Do you know where you are??

[sportsfanatic21]

Ha!! Do you know where you are??

Lol. I forgot for a bit

[Cajunsmike]

I’m think there are 32 conferences. At most, eight will get more than one bid. Follow the money is a correct way to analyze this. As far as home schedule goes, consider more major schools are doing what LSU did this year which is play ZERO non conference road games. One reason is NET considers margin of victory. Some schools use that reasoning to schedule even weaker teams for home games. That does not mean we should not increase our efforts with other quality mid majors to get home and home deals. Going back to my original points, focus of thread should be more on the contributions of the assistants vs the Puerto Rico trip

[Turbine]

... focus of thread should be more on the contributions of the assistants vs the Puerto Rico trip

I'm coming around, I forgot how no one knew each other before this year.

[ZoomZoom]

Wow.

So, how do you get your Net ranking up?

Be in a power conference and don’t venture away from home except for the power conference challenges arranged for tv or tournaments like Maui. There’s not a thing the “mid majors can do unless you’re a private school and can afford to go all in for MBB. I think it was the GAST board pointed out the Zags hoop budget was bigger than GAST’s football budget. And that said, I expect the Zags to get squeezed out eventually.

That’s the game plan. Basketball will be the next chip to fall after P5 football’s move is completed.

[Duckster]

To clarify, overseas trips restricted to once every four years? Puerto Rico is part of the USA. What about a tourney in Hawaii or Alaska, do they count? What about Canada? Just seems like a weird restriction for no reason.